Pests cause millions of human deaths around the world each year. Furthermore, there are more than ten thousand species of pests that cause losses in agriculture. These agricultural losses amount to billions of U.S. dollars each year. Termites cause damage to various structures such as homes. These termite damage losses amount to billions of U.S. dollars each year. As a final note, many stored food pests eat and adulterate stored food. These stored food losses amount to billions of U.S. dollars each year, but more importantly, deprive people of needed food.
There is an acute need for new pesticides. Insects are developing resistance to pesticides in current use. Hundreds of insect species are resistant to one or more pesticides. The development of resistance to some of the older pesticides, such as DDT, the carbamates, and the organophosphates, is well known. But, resistance has even developed to some of the newer pesticides. Therefore, a need exists for new pesticides and particularly for pesticides that have new modes of action.